Translating the message of God from one culture to another is no small task. I found the material in 1 Corinthians 7 to be especially difficult to present. What was happening in that 1st century Corinthian church that would cause Paul to write such things? And then, how does that apply to our 21st century, Houston church? As I came to grips with the message that needed to be preached I then had to ponder all the implications of such a message. Would this message make people feel condemned for past choices they had made? How could I present such a message with grace so that people would have hope and not despair? These were the thoughts and questions that burdened me during my preparation last week.
Now that the sermon is over I wonder what message was heard by those who listened. Did they hear the voice of judgment or the voice of love? And more importantly, will we all be more inclined to seek God's eternal perspective in the important decisions of life? Maranatha.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Tell me about it! I can remember spending sleepless nights trying to figure out how to apply certain teachings to the Italian culture! Mamma mia!
Personally, I got worried for a second. I thought you were going to "wimp out" and water down the message e.g. this doesn't have any application for us today blah, blah, blah. But then, in the blink of an eye, you came through! Not that you were hardline, but you spoke the truth in love, but boldly.
I think you really hit home at the end the message of keeping things in an eternal perspective. This is what I fear happens too often (mainly because I do it!), when Biblical teaching is in line with what we already think, believe, do, it's all Amens and Hallelujahs, but when it is a hard teaching (just like in John), we find fault with the messenger or claim that it's not applicable to our culture. I still have some growing to do...
I came back to read other's comments and was bummed to see that I had somehow deleted my own comment!?? I"m having a particularly bad run with computers these days!I think I am becoming my mother who is perpetually befuddled by technology. Oh well....
I will admit that some of the comments pricked my underside. I have this idea about the next generation of church. Assuming we still have formal sermons, I see the audience with hand-hand computers that allow them to comment during the sermon in a stock market ticker-type way. I know it's crazy.
If I had that, my ticker would have flashed James 1:2-4 because I kept thinking, yet, but for those struggles, I wouldn't be here.
Post a Comment